Machine for removing wool from dead skins



Aug. 14, 1934. w. DALE MACHINE FOR REMOVIG WOOL FROM DEAD SKINS Filed May 29, 1935 Patented Aug. 14, 1934 PATENT MACHINE Fon nnMovING WooLrnoM DEAD skrNs Woolf Dale, Dulwich Hill, near Sydney, New y y South Wales, Australia Application May 29, 1933, Serial No. v673,565

' In Australia June 15, 1932 i claim. (Cl. 14o- 2nv This invention consists in a machine for removing wool from dead sheep skins.

The skins to be operated on are required to be subjected to preparatory chemical treatment to effect a loosening of the wool roots in the cuticle, prior to their introduction into the machine. Such treatment is already known in the art.

The woolly skin, with the woolly side upward, enters the machine over a pair of carrier rollers which are spaced apart below a pinching roller which is located above the space between the carrier rollers, and this pinching roller coacts with the carrier rollers to stretch the skin and hold the flesh side of it in rictional engagement with the carrier rollers. Facing the inner one of the carrier rollers is a toothed oscillatingv plucker blade which ccacts with a liXed beam of curved section to pluck the woolirom the skin and disl charge it downwardly in a more or less unbroken 2`0 sheet. The skin is directed upwardly over the beam to the carrierrollers. -Heretofore a fast rotating spiked roller has been proposed 'for tearing the wool from the skin;V in my machine the wool isremoved from the skin by ya toothed oscillating plucker blade while the skin is passing over a beam. i p Y 1 The invention will be fully understood by reference to the accompanying` drawing, in whichz Fig. l is a perspective view of the machine'as it appears when in operation;

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary sectional elevational view ci `drop-down arms in which the carrier rollers are rotatably mounted;

Fig. 3 is a similar view showing the drop-down larms raised up to the operative position and a woolly skin in process oi being plucked while passing through the machine;

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary perspective view of a portion of one of the plucker blades;

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary sectional View illustrating a. flexible coupling between a driving motor and a crank shaft through which oscillating movement is applied to the plucker blade; and

Fig. 6 is a diagrammatic View explanatory of the chain drive assembly for the carrier rollers.

10 is a motor or other prime mover geared by belt 11 to a sprocket 12 which runs free on the jack shaft 13, 14 being a bearing in which this shaft is carried. The sprocket 12 is coupled by a 'jwind-up helical spring 15 to a fly wheel 16, and this fly wheel is keyed at 17 to the jack shaft 13. 18 is a crank on the inner end. of the jack shait, and 19 a link adjustable for length connecting the crank 18 to the crank arm 29 which is keyed ion the oscillating plucker shaft 21. This shaft is carriedin end bearings 22 and 23 on the end frames 24 land 25, and it carries arms 26 to which the plucker blade 27 is fixed as shown in Fig. 3. The plucker blade is toothed on its leading edge as shown in Figfl and the teeth are curved backz wardlyas shown in that ligure and as seen also in Fig'. 3; I

4Swing frames 30 are carried by pivots 31 which areffset vin main frame brackets 32 and 33'; these frames carry bearings 34 for the pinching roller 35. These bearings are slidable and are held under adjustable'tension by helical springs 36, the degree 'of tension being manually adjustableby screw gears 3'?. One of the frames 30 is provided with a hook latch 38 for engaging it to lugs 39 on the brackets 32'-33. In the operative position these. frames are swung inward and the latch hooks 38 are engaged on lugs 39 on the end frame bracket 33;v

' The swing frames 30 are handled conveniently by means of a lever arm 90 which is iitted with a lever latch pull 91 operating on the latch 38 through a pull rod 92. AThe latch 38 is held closed normally by a spring 93'. y

To open upl the machine for insertion of a woolly skin for treatment therein the engagement of the hook 28 is released and the frames 30 are swung outward as shown in Fig. 2. Then the arms 40 are swung down on their pivots 41, in order to bringthe carrier rollers 42 and 43 to a lowl position to enable the operator to draperthe woolly skin v44 over themas seen in Fig. 2. The arms 40 are then swung .up and the frames 30 are at the same time pushed back, as shown in Fig. 3. The pinching roller 35 is thus caused to bear down upon the top side of the woolly skin 44 above the space intervening theV carrier rollers 42 and 43, stretching it and forcing its flesh side into frictional contact with the carrier rollers 42 and 43 for the application of drive to the skin to traverse it through the machine at the required pace. The skin passes to the carrier roller 42 over the curved section beam 50,- and the plucker 27 acts on the wool while the skin is passing over the top edge of the beam. The leading end of the skin (now in cleaned-01T condition) trails over the roller 43. It passes to the beam over a jockey roller 51, and over a shaft 52; the ends of the shaft 52 form pivots 41 for the rock arms 40.

60 is a gear reducing train taking drive from the extension spindle 61 of the motor 10 and driving a pulley 92 on the shaft 52 through the belt 62; the pulley 92 runs free on that shaft and is coupled to a sprocket 93 which also runs free on it; this sprocket 93 carries a continuous belt 65 Giga ico

which applies drive to the carrier rollers 42 and 43. The jockey roller 51 has freedom for vertical movement, and its bearings are supported on pillow springs 67 which influence it upwardly towards the carrier roller 42. Downward movement of the arms 40 is limited by the pin and slot arrangement 70.

The wool is removed in a down-clawing motion in which as it progresses it is engaged line by line, so to speak, by the plucker 27. The segmental shoe 50 functions as a beam over which the woolly skin is traversed while the plucker blade progressively engages the wool and strips it from the skin as the skin is traversed through the machine by rotation of the carrier rollers.

It is necessary that the skin be pretreated to loosen the wool roots so that thel woolV can be plucked with facility; unless the woolly skin were pretreated the wool would not be removable from it by the plucker blade. The plucker blade 27'coacts with the segmental shoe rbearn 50. The carrier rollers 42 and 43 havethe purpose not only of drawing the skin to the beam,but also operate to hold it stretched and tensioned against the pulling action ofthe plucker blade.

In operation, the hook latch 38 being released and the frames 30 swung outward, bringing the pinching roller 35 outward with them, the carrier arms 40 are swung Adownward to the position shown in Fig. 2. The skin 44 is then draped over the upper carrier roller 42 and thenceover the shoe plate beam 50. Then the arms 40 with the carrier rollers 42 and 43 are swung upward to the position shown in Fig.k 3, and simultaneously the frames 30 carrying the pinching roller 3,5, are swung downward and latched as shown at 38, Fig. 3.

Then the motor 10 is started and the skin is traversed through the machine and the plucker is oscillated at a fast rate. 1t engages the wool and plucks it from the skin from which it hasV been previously loosened by chemical treatment; the wool comes away for the most part in a continuous length as indicatedin Fig. 3, and falls onto a tray (not shown) below. The'operation is commenced about midway ofthe length of the skin; the incoming portion of the skin is rst stripped; then the frames 30V and the arms`40 are swung out again as seen in Fig. 2 and the skin is reversed and the other end of it is then plucked. The plucked end of a skin in thelater stage of treatment is seen at 80. The tension is appropriately adjusted by the screw arrangement 37 to ensure suicient nip between the pinching roller 35 and the carrier rollers 42 and 43 to ensure frictional engagement of the skin with the carrier rollers. The shoe 50 receives the skin oi the jockey roller 51 and provides abutment for it immediately behind the line along which the plucker 27 operates on the wool. The speed at which the skin is traversed through the machine, and the speed of oscillation of the plucker must be adjusted appropriately to ensure quite satisfactory operation. A too slow movement or an excessively fast movement of the plucker having regard to the rate of movement of the skin, will result in unsatisfactory operation. There is a best range of movement of traverse of the skin (past the plucker. In practice, it is desirable that the skin shall pass through the machine at the rate of about ve feet per minute, and the plucker shall make about six hundred oscillations per minute. A more or less wide variation in these speeds is'practicable.

The provision of a flexible drive between the motor and the jack shaft 13 is practically necessary in order to avoid transmission of vibratory disturbances from the machine to the motor. l' What I claim as my invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:-

A machine for removing wool from dead pretreated skins,. comprising a pair of end frame members, apshaft adapted for rotational oscillation. and having journals at its ends carried on bearings in said end frames, arms adjacent said frames and tiltable about bearings therein, a parallel pair of rollers spaced apart and carried rotatably in end journals in said arms, another roller rotatably mounted in a tilting frame above said pair of rollers, means for adjusting spring pressure acting downwardly to influence said roller into the space between said pair of rollers thereby to stretch the skin and engage it frictionally with them, means for holding said arms and frame to position said rollers in operative relation, a beam fixed adjacent the periphery of one roller of said pair of rollers, a long blade with its lower edge curved and toothed forming a'plucker, said blade carried by arms which are xed on said Yoscillatable shaft, and means for applying rotational movement to the rollers and oscillating movement to the plucker.

WOOLF DALE. 

